On Tuesday I drove more than 12 hours from the black hills of South Dakota to Rockford, Illinois where I once again slept in wal-mart parking lot for the night before rising early the next morning to continue onward toward Pennsylvania.
On Wednesday I again drove more more than 12 hours this time reaching my temporary home in New Britain, Pennsylvania. My sudden dash through the mid-west wasn’t that there was nothing to see in the mid-west, I’m sure there are lots of things to see between South Dakota and Pennsylvania. Nothing however was particularly calling to me right now nor was anything I somewhat wanted to see particularly convenient for a guy traveling and living in a camper with a dog. I had thought about going north and then crossing one of the great lakes by ferry, but that seemed a big detour and something I’d likely do in a few months when it comes time to cross from Maine into Canada. More than anything though it was that the escrow for the sale of my house was, as hoped, moving along very quickly. I was anxious to get to Pennsylvania where I would be receiving paperwork that needed to be signed, notarized and returned as soon as possible. Ideally before the coming weekend. The people buying my house would actually be moving in that weekend and renting the property for a week prior to close of escrow. Therefore in addition to all the usual sale documents I had to also sign and return lease documents. All of this paper work would be dramatically easier once I’d reached my friend’s home in Pennsylvania, hence the hurry.
There is not much to say about spending two days driving the interstates across the mid-west as quickly as my 20 year old Vanagon could go. I think the biggest highlight for me was crossing the Mississippi River. That was pretty cool. It is such a historically symbolic line dividing this country. I am officially in the east now. I crossed the Mississippi just long enough after sunset that it was the darker side of dusk, but I still got a reasonably good view of it. Sorry no picture though.
I arrived at Matt & Em’s home in New Britain, PA around 9:30pm on Wednesday. The first major leg of my journey is complete. Whooo hooo! This will be home base for the coming month. In October I’ll again hit the road to tour the north east all the way into Canada before returning here for a few weeks before leaving the dog with them and flying to Asia.
Everything is finally coming together. The house is selling, the travel is underway, plans are falling in place. I’m feeling great and Tucker is making friends with his two new brothers, Blue and Kona. That’s Blue pawing at Kona under Em’s Desk while Kona snuggles in his little spot between the cabinets and hearth.
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